Common Names: Slender Buckwheat
Synonyms: Eriogonum microtheca
Varieties: alpinum, corymbosoides, johnstonii, lacus-ursi, lapidocola, schoolcraftii, simpsonii
Taxonomy: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat/Knotweed)
Habit: perennial shrub
Size: variable, in Spring Mountains 1-2’ tall
Flowers: white, red , pink , yellow
Bloom: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
Leaves: alternate
Fruit: aschene
Description:
This is a shrub which is quite variable in appearance. There are many varieties, some of which are isolated to small geographical distributions. It may be a low clumping plant or a sprawling shrub to 4’ (1.5 m) in height and width. Scraggly, woody perennial with a few, leafy stems and a much-branched inflorescence with tiny, terminal flower clusters. Leaves alternate, linear to oblong or narrowly obovate, 0.5-1.5” (1-3 cm) long, narrowed gradually to a short petiole, gray-woolly beneath and greenish but with some hairs above, crowded along the lower half of the stem. The upper portion of the plant makes up its inflorescence, which often has a flat top. The tiny clustered flowers are white to yellow or sometimes pinkish.
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY
Seen: NV (Mountain Springs Summit)
Habitat: Sandy deserts to lower montane slopes
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